By the way, this is a great issue to help candidates raise small-dollar grassroots contributions from legalization proponents, not only in Illinois, but across the country.

* From the Chris Kennedy campaign…

Chris supports decriminalizing marijuana in Illinois. He believes we should not be prosecuting and crowding our jails over simple possession of marijuana. He is reviewing studies done on the effects of legalization in other states before determining if legalization would be right for Illinois.

* Bob Daiber campaign…

Dr. Daiber is strongly in favor of medicinal marijuana in Illinois.

As this current time, he is still researching the legalization of marijuana recreationally and cannot weigh in on one side or the other.

He does say he is in favor of a ballot initiative to allow voters to legalize marijuana of their own free will, similar to what had occurred in Colorado and Washington.

When I pointed out that we don’t have binding initiatives in Illinois, I received this response…

Daiber feels that even though it would be non-binding, he would base his decision to pass legislation legalizing recreational marijuana based on the will of the people.

* I haven’t yet heard back from the Kurt Summers people, but I might’ve used the wrong e-mail address. I’ll let you know what he says.

Also, JB Pritzker hasn’t yet answered any policy questions ahead of his possible announcement and it was clear yesterday that the campaign didn’t want to establish a new precedent when I asked for his position.

the time for democratic candidates trying to sit on the fence - on any issue - ended november 8th of last year. not taking a stand in the race is the fastest way to show us you won’t take a stand when you’re in office, and nobody’s voting for that anymore.

Agreed Kennedy and Daiber no longer have a chance for my vote. We need an advocate who will fight for this issue in the governor’s mansion and if you are still studying it now, it will never be a priority.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government will introduce legislation the week of April 10 to legalize marijuana by July 1, 2018, according to a report from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
~Bloomberg 3/28/17

Instead of waiting for the voters to weigh in on legalizing marijuana during the 2018 election, conduct a poll now. If it polls well across the state, I think Rauner will sign the bill to legalize marijuana, but what do I know…

As it turns out, I am seeing Chris Kennedy speak at my local Indivisible meeting tonight. I plan on asking him his views on, not only medical cannabis, but recreational as well. I plan on telling him my story of chronic pain and use of medical cannabis.